In view of the problems of improper straw treatment and increased fertilizer application in rice production, taking Saint Rice 18 under the rice-wheat rotation system in Jining City, Shandong Province as the research object, three treatments were set up through field experiments:conventional fertilization, wheat straw non-return (CK); conventional fertilization + wheat straw full return (T1); 85% of the conventional fertilization + wheat straw full return (T2). The rice growth, photosynthetic parameters and yield at different growth stages were studied to provide theoretical basis for working out the reasonable rice planting measures. The results indicated that straw returning to field under rice-wheat rotation system was adverse to the early growth of rice, however, it could significantly improve rice growth in the middle and late growth stages, and enhance the absorption of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other nutrients in the middle and late growth stages. The chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate and spectral reflectance of T2 were the highest in the middle and late growth stages, and the SPAD value and net photosynthetic rate increased by 4.4% and 37.5%, respectively, compared with CK. During the filling stage, both F_v/F_m and PI_abs were higher than the previous periods. The experiment also showed that T2 had the highest yield, which increased by 13.1% compared with CK. The direct reason for yield increasing was the increase of effective panicle per unit area. In summary, straw returning to the field combined with fertilizer reduction is helpful to achieve high yield and efficiency in rice cultivation production, which is worth popularizing and applying.